6 Hours of Shanghai: Championships set to reach chequered flag in Pearl of the Orient

For the eighth round of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship, the WEC family travels to the Pearl of the Orient and the impressive Shanghai International Circuit on the outskirts of the country's biggest city and its global financial hub.  Following the rain-drenched and weather-shortened last round in Japan, which shook up and tightened the championship positions in all classes, the 26 competitors will be keen to have a dry and uninterrupted 6 Hours of Shanghai as some title battles reach their final, exciting stages.   For others, every single point will count right to the end of the season and some may even wish to have another wet race! The 5.451km (3.387mile), 16 turn track is technically challenging and known to be hard on tyre wear so strategy will be more important than ever in the fight for success.  Porsche going for third consecutive World Manufacturers Championship  Toyota’s 1-2 result in Fuji slowed Porsche’s bid for a third successive FIA World Endurance Manufacturers Championship and reduced the gap between them to 58.5 points.  With two victories each in the last five years (and one to Audi), who will come out on top in Shanghai?   There will no changes to the driver line ups on either team, and the battle between all four hybrid-powered cars is likely to be fierce.    Victory for the No.8 Toyota TS050 HYBRID crew of Kazuki Nakajima, Sébastien Buemi and Anthony Davidson in Japan has closed the gap in the World Endurance Drivers’ Championship to 39 points to leaders Brendon Hartley, Earl Bamber and Timo Bernhard and there’s all to play for in China. The full entry list can be found HERE and the timetable for the weekend HERE. Retrouvez ICI tous les articles de notre site en version française

Home interest in LMP2 Vaillante Rebellion’s win in Fuji has closed the gap to long-time LMP2 class leaders to just 10 points, but all eyes in China will be on the two teams with a home interest – Jackie Chan DC Racing, which head the LMP2 FIA World Endurance Teams Trophy race, and CEFC Manor TRS Racing.  Team owner and global movie star Jackie Chan will be present in Shanghai to support local drivers David Cheng and Ho-Pin Tung and the whole team, and the No.38 ORECA 07 Gibson crew will be keen to stretch the gap to the chasing Vaillante Rebellion and Signatech Alpine Matmut teams behind them in the points’ battle.   CEFC Manor TRS Racing will undoubtedly be keen to entertain its many interested guests, Chinese sponsors and partners and hope for a less eventful race than in Fuji.    The only driver change in LMP2 since Fuji is the addition of Swiss DTM driver Nico Müller – making his WEC debut – alongside Roman Rusinov and Pierre Thiriet in the No.26 G-Drive Racing entry.  As the Russian driver and his team have enjoyed two LMP2 class wins in the last four years in Shanghai, don’t count them out.

LMGTE classes closer than ever Ferrari now holds a 47-point lead over Porsche in the GT FIA World Endurance Manufacturers Championship following its success in Fuji, but ironically it has never won in the LMGTE Pro class in Shanghai.  Aston Martin and Porsche have taken two wins each, and last year victory went to Ford.    There are no changes to the strong driver line ups in the LMGTE Pro category, and leaders of the GT Drivers’ Championship Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado of AF Corse Ferrari – who celebrated their third (and second consecutive) win of the season in Japan – will be looking to extend their lead over the Porsche GT pairing of Frederic Makowiecki and Richard Lietz who continue on their improving trajectory as the season progresses.  In LMGTE Am it is now even closer between the teams at the top and each race is as unpredictable as the next!  Just three points now separate the championship-leading Clearwater Racing team from Singapore – at what will be almost a home race – from Dempsey Proton Racing and Aston Martin Racing.  Will these three lead the way in Shanghai, or will Spirit of Race repeat its Japanese success?   Gulf Racing’s owner driver Mike Wainwright is forced to miss another round due to business commitments and his place will be taken in Shanghai by the very experienced WEC entrant from the United Arab Emirates, Khaled Al Qubaisi who makes a welcome return to the paddock.